I like Virgil but enjoy Dante more. His smarty comments are always so snarky and make me laugh and though their fighting styles are both incredible, I just like Dante's more. He's got zazz.
Interesting question. I don't tend to insult people unless they particularly annoy me and usually they said something first to kick it off. Then I let them have it. However, I do think some people do try to elevate themselves off the misery of others that they cause. It gives them some sense of power to possibly make them feel better and have a dominance over 'something' in their lives. It's a shallow thing for someone to do but I'm pretty sure most of the time that is the reason. When you insult them back or ignore them, they lose dominance of a situation and you can make them really look stupid and the looks on their faces is enough to say they have stumbled on someone out of their league. Your response to the person and brushing it off was probably enough to make that person realize that he was not going to win over getting a 'pathetic' response from you so hopefully he's done with it. However, to make himself feel 'bad ass' he may go the other route which is to get 'friends' to make a person feel cowed that way. Of course, if you can snap off responses like that and walk on unaffected, it won't even matter. He'll probably try to find some other person instead. It's all about the reaction.
Actually, being a first born, I would have to say that it's because we have more responsibility than the others do, and also get shafted more. We are pushed to watch over our siblings, learn to try to settle disputes better, and well, my parents just were on me for nearly anything. Also, parents tend to get more income and better situations as the first kid grows so that kid is often kind of left out of things like getting the 'coolest' stuff because the birth is often not so planned for and parents also need their time of adjustment so the first kid is the 'trial' kid. The others also don't have to work as hard at some things as the first child does and I remember being more or less raised to watch after them and I had to babysit them from age 13, which sucked. Them arguing with me over that really taught me tolerance though. I remember not getting an allowance until I was 12 and by then I was already mowing other people's lawns and such and at 13 took up a paper route to make money while my siblings (3 others) could sit around a lot more and none of them had to get work until they were out of school, while I had a solid part time job at 16. So, I think the expectations are just there for an older sibling to push him/herself, watch over the younger siblings so they don't get 'picked on' as much as the older one would with no real protection, and they had to deal with less of a stable world as parents adjust to that new life of having the first kid. Dealing with it all I think motivates the first child -if- the child cares about it all. There are some people that were 'first children' that rebelled utterly from what their parents rather tossed on them too, so I can't say it always holds true but there just does most of the time seem more of a drive to get the first kid moving upward and growing up faster than the others because parents need help with the other siblings and duties around the house and it just gets put on the oldest kid more often. As someone pointed out above, sometimes the oldest sibling can turn out to be the lazy bum too so it depends on how much responsibility parents do put on the oldest and also if the oldest child is willing to actually do what is demanded of them. If they aren't, generally the duties fall to others because the first child is not doing an adequate job and if they want it done, they must turn to others. There are also reports that the middle children often feel more isolated and the youngest children are babied more often, which I think in my family held true to some degree as well. It is an interesting query to think about.
This could be fun...okay here's one. He's 'the other side'.
OOC: Sure thing, Pika. Harvey was going to drop it because the proof is so sketchy on it because no one seemed mentally 'damaged' by what happened to Sora. Their lives went on even if they were oblivious to him. Sora's, Repliku's, Donald's, Goofy's, Riku's things that happened to them were more 'mental damage' in a way due to the fact they also suffered in the Castle because of it while others outside didn't seem to be really damaged by it...just oblivious. I can see though why you want to try to keep the charge so go for it.
Harvey smirked. He knew he had to have Xelax here. "Because Sora had the intentions of stopping Marluxia from doing what he was and there is no declaration he will -kill- Marluxia. If you can run this into the ground, we can go back and say Larxene's statements on 'nighty night sham' and Marluxia's 'scatter your heart to the wind' can be called death threats as well. If we can be told that their statements are not reflective of a death threat, Sora's cannot be held accountable in such a way either as he is actually going against the threats that decided to put him there in the first place." "Control mentally refers to the fact he was having Namine eradicate his true memories and even was going to erase his memories entirely at a point to have him rebuilt in Marluxia's desired way. Coercion expresses the fact that he had used Namine in the first place to alter Sora's mind and confuse him, causing him to do things against a situation he did not want to be in. He weakened Vexen, Marluxia had Axel kill him after. He was used to move through the Castle, becoming lost in emotion and the intent was to use him and his link to Namine to make him more malleable. They are therefore separate charges. Both were in progress simultaneously but one would make it so he had no free will at all. The other he may have been able to sometime contest when such a time came where he could think clearly." "Mental damage refers to the fact that Sora, Donald and Goofy, as well as Jiminy, did have mental damage and had to choose between false memories of Castle Oblivion or his real memories which were unlinked. The -healing- process took a whole year to mend because of Marluxia's decision to make Namine mess with his head and use the Keyblader." "There was no shock in Larxene at all over it. It seems more she planted this on Sora than she was surprised at all. If I am mistaken, please show some proof over it. Marluxia also did not seem surprised by the whole affair at large. He never acknowledged she did it but Sora also didn't bring it up either." Marluxia was in charge of the Castle Oblivion and the girl Namine. He allowed Larxene to torment her. He also was forcing her to do acts against her will and she was neglected and lonely. He failed in his duty as keeper of the girl to take care of her properly and kept her in a room with a chair. I think abuse holds well enough. Child Abuse on Sora is because he manipulated him, lured him to the Castle Oblivion, forced him to make dire situations and put Sora in danger for personal gain. He induced harm on him, allowing people to go 'test' Sora afterwards, he sent Vexen to 'kill' Sora, whether or not it was intended. They still had to fight, and he also had Axel kill Vexen in front of Sora. We can also bring up the point he put Namine in a hazardous situation placing her in harm's way by using her as a shield against Axel. In the end, Marluxia is directly responsible for the harm that fell to both Namine and Sora." "Due to the fact it is a game mechanic, I will go ahead and drop this charge as well, though I believe all others should stand. Though some tie in together vaguely, they all represent solid charges on their own. However, I do wish now to establish the fact for certain that Namine's abilities affected Sora and through Sora affected others. They were to take his memories and alter them so that she was the focus of his attention and so he'd forget other things to be more malleable for Marluxia to use." "Now, where is Marluxia also responsible but for just using Namine? The powers of the Castle are how those 'cards' come to be and how the others that took out memories to create each world Sora would 'go' too once he would open a door. This was seen with both Riku and Sora. Now, since Riku was not a target of Namine, his memory loss which was lesser, was due to his connection to Sora directly. However, the cards were used, which are an item of the Castle Oblivion, to copy his and Sora's memories to make them go through all of the 'worlds' they had been to in the past. These were also used to implant memories into Riku Replica by using Namine AND the cards. The Organization members knew the power of the Castle, which could take people's memories and make them relive the place and control things. Namine's powers broke and linked chains of memories. I think there is confusion on just what exactly Marluxia is responsible for, as well as some members of the Organization here, but the power of the Castle itself under his control needs to be established. I hope you get where I am coming from. It is very plausible with some things Marluxia said, that he was in tune with the Castle in ways others weren't. He in fact did seem to know about Riku Replica's state of being and what Namine had done. He also knew Sora was on his way and set up Axel to have to take him on, using Namine. He also brought Namine to his location without effort at all, targeting her with ease. He is also the one who -did- in fact start off the whole thing using the powers of the Castle to lure Sora there and also put him through worlds of his memories. The Castle was instrumental in his plans, just as DiZ had to make up a 'fake' Twilight Town to put Roxas in so Namine could work on his mind." "I do accept the dropping of the cards charge, but I do not think it right to avoid the issue he was master of the Castle Oblivion and it had unique powers of its own that in no doubt helped Namine accomplish what she was doing, as well as helped himself greatly. The power of the Castle Oblivion itself and the fact he was in charge of it have to be seen to be separate from what Namine's powers do. She is getting all of the blame but the Organization used the Castle itself and we can see the difference between what happened to Riku with -just- the Castle Oblivion's effects versus what happened to Sora and his friends above because of both the Castle and Namine. I think the other charges really should remain as they are." "I bring this quote up from DiZ's Ansem Reports to show the fact that the Organization had abilities and Marluxia mainly since he was in charge, that the rooms via the cards do respond to the visitors' memories. This should help divide the issue up of what Namine could do to Sora versus what the Castle properties were under the control of the Organization." "Now, my last point here. It pertains to Riku Replica. His mind was altered against his will. Marluxia was present there and did once claim him as his own too. His mind in the end could -not- be repaired by Namine, thus leaving him in the state he was in because he had not much of memories to go off of before she was made to do her act. If Larxene is not going to be placed to blame for the plan to use the cards and make Riku Replica forget himself and make him into 'Riku' for the Sora plot, why is not Marluxia at all? He -was- present for it all and oversaw the whole project and condemns Vexen for failure for it, and even uses it as a reason to threaten Vexen with worse if he does not comply to Marluxia's wishes. It is obvious he knew all along these things and therefore I do feel Coercion of Repliku and Mental Damage to Repliku should also be added. There is nothing I can see that clears him of the charges. I do not feel Vexen alone should get charged with things pertaining to Riku Replica because he caved in to demands to avoid being noted as a failure to Xemnas. As far as child abuse and other charges pertaining to Repliku, these would fall on other shoulders though ones' were cleared of it. Also, Namine herself is guilty of 'breaking his Heart' so this would not fall on Marluxia as this was probably not a part of his plans in the end, whether he cared or not. She is not on trial however, so the charge goes to empty air." Threats of Namine Kidnapping/Hostage - Namine Coercion of Namine, Repliku Child abuse Namine, Sora Imprisoning Namine, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Jiminy Coercion of Sora, Donald, Goofy, Jiminy Conspiracy to Control Sora mentally Mental Damage Sora, Donald, Goofy, Jiminy, Repliku Defacement of private property Jiminy's diary, Sora's charm. Harvey took a sip of coffee and felt tingles in his feet. Were the Defense and Offense actually working a bit less hostile towards one another now? He hoped so. They still had others to try here. He knew that some people were not going to be overly pleased with things here, but at the same time, it was making some progress." Sora gave a nod and waited. It seemed he was done here, even if the dork didn't apologize for calling him a liar. Ah well, he knew he had done his best. He would just be glad to step down after this and wondered who was next on the Organization charge list. Riku rubbed his chin contemplatively. He hadn't really met Marluxia so he couldn't judge the guy though he did actually remember other things. He wondered how things were going to go once they were done with the Castle Oblivion Organization members. Xemnas in a way had crippled some longer lasting punishments for them by saying that no charges caused by Organization members against others could be counted but at the same time there was a desire to actually hear reasoning for what some of them had done. He guessed they weren't going to try to let Marluxia take the stand because everyone knew pretty much it was a power ploy so it was better to negotiate charges instead. It was a wise move on the Defense's part. He had to commend them for that. Repliku could only shake his head. Apparently anything that happened to him was totally not condemnable in the least. Larxene and Marluxia apparently did not get anything out of it at all. He really didn't think that fair but apparently, no one was going to really defend him. It made him realize just how fake he really must seem to the others. It could only leave him feeling a state of misery that he tried to conceal as best he could...as well as a growing raging frustration. If the Nobodies could be shown this mercy then why wasn't he even considered? Why did everything with his name just get eliminated any time it was brought up? He really was feeling little sympathy at all towards any of the Organization right now because apparently they deserved second chances and to write essays while he was just a mention of things that always were canceled out by lack of proof. If they thought it fair that maybe Vexen would get charges for his creation or something stupid but Larxene and Marluxia could just have no charges at all...well that down right upset him immensely. He wondered if he would be placed on trial for what he had done, but didn't even care now. If he was charged, he'd just laugh at this point because what was the deal of it all anyway if the ones who controlled the strings could just get away with it all? Yeah, he was a sad and grumpy little replica but he would maintain his silence, watching and waiting.
Very cool, Cin. It is interesting to see that people are now coming out more forward about the possibility. I'm used to only having these things debated and brought up in my science classes. Thanks for the link.
Well, the reason everyone probably thought he was a girl...is because Nomura originally planned on making Marluxia a female. However, he changed his mind at the last minute, made Marluxia a man and gave him a lower voice and all, but kept the powers and such the same. The reason he said for this was because Xemnas (apparently being a chauvinist of some sort) would probably never leave a female in charge of the Castle Oblivion and Org members stationed there. I thought Marluxia was female too at first. In RE when I heard his voice it was funny because it just doesn't seem to go with him to me, but at the same time it oddly fits.
I found Sora to be a refreshing 'hero' for a change so I voted I like him. Yes, at times his naivety and low perception of things other than feelings and instinct are annoying but funny at the same time, but I just can't hate the character because for once in a long time in FF games...he's not dramatically over-emotional and depressed. He actually tries to follow his heart in positive ways and even if he makes stupid mistakes I think he and Riku counter each other's failings well. If you use too much logic or too much emotion to make decisions all the time, it hurts but with both paired up they are pretty unstoppable. I do hope to see him 'grow up' some but Sora was likable and it was good to see that someone could be friendly, optimistic and not so down in the dumps for once...in a long time.
